Most starting quarterbacks sit out the fourth and final preseason game so as not to get injured before the start of the regular season. But Dolphins rookie Ryan Tannehill is not an ordinary quarterback.

Offensive coordinator Mike Sherman said Saturday that he expects Tannehill to play Wednesday in the preseason finale at Dallas. Veteran starters such as Jake Long and Reggie Bush likely won’t play, but Tannehill and his young receivers are all likely to get one last shot at game experience before the start of the regular season Sept. 9 at Houston.

“I would envision Ryan playing,” Sherman said. “Certainly we have to be cautious with what we’re doing, but he needs more game reps. I’m hopeful we’ll get him some.”

Tannehill has started the Dolphins’ last two preseason games, and has not had much success. The Dolphins punted on 10 of his 13 drives, with one touchdown, one field goal and an interception. Through three games, he has 379 passing yards, a 50.7 completion percentage and a 65.4 passer rating.

Despite the poor numbers, Sherman is pleased with his pupil. “If you look at the game objectively, he did a lot of good things,” Sherman said. “We dropped about eight balls, and maybe even more than that. He didn’t make a bad decision. All of his decisions were decisive and accurate. So I think we’ll be much improved as we go along, but obviously we have to get busy in a hurry.”

More importantly, Wednesday’s game will be used as one last tryout for the receivers, with 10 guys battling for five spots behind Davone Bess, who had four catches for 59 yards Friday against Atlanta.

“They haven’t helped matters,” Sherman said of the receivers. “I wish they would say, ‘Hey, I’m the guy,’ and jump up from the table by having a knockout performance, and that hasn’t necessarily happened yet.”

Sherman said one or two other players have locked up a roster spot – likely Legedu Naanee and Julius Pruitt, with Marlon Moore also a good shot to make the team – but “it doesn’t hurt for them to worry about who they are.”

The Dallas game could be one last chance to get game snaps for injured linebackers Karlos Dansby (knee) and Kevin Burnett (back), who have barely practiced the last two weeks. But defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said he would be OK with sending Dansby and Burnett into the lineup in Week 1 despite their recent inactivity.

“Certainly the key for us is to have them up and ready and playing well when we open up Sept. 9,” Coyle said Saturday. “I have some concern about the fact that they’ve been very limited over the last couple of weeks, but they’re experienced veteran players.”